Automotive vehicles involved in accidents typically suffer structural damage to members due to crushing. To repair this damage, the members must be either replaced or repaired. In the case where a member is to be straightened and repaired, often a clamping device or apparatus is secured to the member and pulled upon in a direction opposite to that of the crushing force which caused the damage.
One member frequently damaged is the energy absorbing unit which is connected between the vehicle bumper and the vehicle chassis. When the bumper is impacted, the impacting force is transferred from the bumper, axially through a longitudinal member, and to the energy absorbing unit causing the energy absorbing unit to plastically deform in a crushing or buckling mode. The bumper is typically bolted to an end plate attached to the longitudinal member.
Conventionally, the energy absorbing unit is straightened by removing the bumper and attaching a flat pulling plate, through numerous bolted connections, to the end plate. The same apertures used to bolt the bumper to the end plate are used to attach the pulling plate. The pulling plate is then pulled upon transferring a pulling force through the bolts, the end plate, the longitudinal member and finally to the energy absorbing unit, thereby straightening the energy absorber unit. Disadvantages to using the pulling plate are that numerous bolted connections must be fastened and unfastened and the pulling plate cannot readily be used to secure to other vehicle components.
Examples of clamps securing to vehicle components to apply a pulling load thereto are disclosed in the following U.S. patents.
Sanchez, U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,295, discloses a clamp assembly with a pair of jaw members for securement to the drip molding of an automobile. One jaw member has a trough sized to cooperatively engage, in conjunction with the other jaw member, the drip molding. The jaw members are designed to pull perpendicular to rather than axially along, the drip molding. Also, they are held together by a clamping bolt located intermediate abutting portions on each of the jaw members, which impedes securement about a member located in the space formed between the jaw members. Finally, an attachment means secures to only the jaw member having the trough and therefore, the axial load is predominantly carried by that jaw member relative to the remaining jaw member.
Shiozaki, U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,249, discloses a clamping device with a pair of jaw members having serrated teeth that bite upon a member to be clamped. The clamping device must be under a tensile load in order to actuate the clamping action. Further, the device will not flushly bear upon a component held within the space located between the jaws when the clamp is being pulled, thereby avoiding localized areas of high load transfer. The clamp is not designed to stably secure about the periphery of a longitudinal member perpendicular to its longitudinal axis so as to provide an axial pulling load to a longitudinal member.
Buske, U.S. Pat. No. 3,827,279 discloses a clamp with a pair of facing angle-shaped jaws which are secured together by a clamping screw. The clamp is designed to bite upon a component held between interdigitating cup-shaped teeth located on each of the jaws. A clamp screw passes intermediately through each of the jaws thereby reducing the unencumbered spaced located between the biting ends of the jaws and the clamping screw. Again, the clamp is not well suited to secure about the periphery of a longitudinal member to apply an axial pulling load thereto.
Other patents related to automobile pulling tools include Markovics, U.S. Pat. No. 3,577,881 and Gaston et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,584,863.